And here are the highlights from the True Blood panel at Comic-Con (moderated by EW’s own Tim Stack):

Alexander Skarsgard got a massive, Beatles-like reception from the crowd in Ballroom 20, even though the panel featured other hotties like Stephen Moyer, Kevin Alejandro, Nelsan Ellis and Ryan Kwanten (where’s the love, gals?). But where was Alcide and Sam? Joe Manganiello was off rehearsing a movie in Atlanta while Sam Trammel was in a hospital somewhere because he’s about to become a father.

Wondering how Eric made Pam? We’ll finally see how it all happened in season 5.

Executive Producer Alan Ball can’t tell us when the show will end but he will say that it won’t be anytime soon. ”As we get further down the road, it will become less and less about this season is based on this book or that season is based on that book. But the show has a tremendous amount of life. I hope to get to the point where it becomes a problem for us in the writers room to explain why the vampires seem to be aging.”

Welcome back, dead Claudine? Ball teased that fairies are born in litters and are often identical.

More about season 5 development: Ball said he and the writers are currently researching different kind of supernatural characters that have yet to be seen on the show.

Don’t get too comfortable with your galpal, Tara! Ball teased that we haven’t seen the end of Tara and Sam.

Skarsgard joked that one of the bigger mysteries of the season is how he showed up shirtless and wearing a dorky pair of shorts after losing his memory. Says Ball, “If you take apart the Latin spell that was cast on Eric, part of it says, `by the way, you will lose your shirt and you’ll find yourself in a really dorky outfit for several episodes in a row and still be insanely hot.”